FEL when using 3pt implements

[olPete]

Interesting thread. I must admit I leave my FEL on more than I need to.. but then it always seems to be needed soon after I take it off.
I will sometimes put a bike in the bucket so I can head home for more coffee/food without having to take the tractor home, or put the bale spikes on and crowd them back so I have pointers to keep the runs straight, save my neck and reduce overlap (a trick I learned while seeding).
Mostly I remove the FEL for practice and to keep things from seizing up, so when it needs to come off, it's a quick job and not a half hour's worth of jiggling/cussing/hitting-with-a-hammer. My FEL is a NZ made Pearson loader with a wedge lock system, not quite a toolfree job, the wedges just need a tap and remove. It offers great visibility when on, and it stays on most of the spring and early summer for mowing silage/moving silage bales and then comes off for aeration and subsoiling when I get sick of looking through it.
That's when I find I need it!
I am doing a little contracting work now so it is on and off depending on the job and terrain, as are the duals..
Most of the farmers, especially the dairy farmers around here, leave theirs on all the time, often with attachments still on. Looks weird when you see a guy cultivating his land with whichever attachment was last used, dangling out the front!! Although I have noticed I certainly have had a change of pace going from 1200ac. of dairy farm to 110ac. that we own, jobs get planned around the tractor setup and not the other way around, so much

 

[pmsmechanic]

I dislike the loader hanging on the front of the tractor so much that I take it off if I have a job that doesn't require a loader. I'll even take the loader off at a customers place if I don't need to use the loader any more. It's about a minute to take off and about 1.5 minutes to install. In my opinion that's a small price to pay for the ease of tractor operation without the loader.

 

[ovrszd]

I skipped SSQA and go right to Euro. Stronger and you don't have to get off the tractor to latch attachments. Pick up and go.

Yep, I believe the Euro design to be stronger. Problem is it's harder to find used attachments.

 

[ovrszd]

Interesting thread. I must admit I leave my FEL on more than I need to.. but then it always seems to be needed soon after I take it off.
I will sometimes put a bike in the bucket so I can head home for more coffee/food without having to take the tractor home, or put the bale spikes on and crowd them back so I have pointers to keep the runs straight, save my neck and reduce overlap (a trick I learned while seeding).
Mostly I remove the FEL for practice and to keep things from seizing up, so when it needs to come off, it's a quick job and not a half hour's worth of jiggling/cussing/hitting-with-a-hammer. My FEL is a NZ made Pearson loader with a wedge lock system, not quite a toolfree job, the wedges just need a tap and remove. It offers great visibility when on, and it stays on most of the spring and early summer for mowing silage/moving silage bales and then comes off for aeration and subsoiling when I get sick of looking through it.
That's when I find I need it!
I am doing a little contracting work now so it is on and off depending on the job and terrain, as are the duals..
Most of the farmers, especially the dairy farmers around here, leave theirs on all the time, often with attachments still on. Looks weird when you see a guy cultivating his land with whichever attachment was last used, dangling out the front!! Although I have noticed I certainly have had a change of pace going from 1200ac. of dairy farm to 110ac. that we own, jobs get planned around the tractor setup and not the other way around, so much

Are you using forks to stack those bales?? Curious what type of attachment you would use to minimize tearing the wrap??

 

[olPete]

We call em "soft hands" down here. Good for picking them up and the only real thing to remember is to maintain a 45° angle to the stack, which gives you the clearance you need without ripping the neighbors. You will notice the red bar- this can be removed allowing the hands to swing from side to side when empty but that slows things down a little, I find.

 

[olPete]

And this is on the back end, as a counterweight. Bale tipper. . You can slide them under the bale, and then pull the string and it will sit the bale down on its end.
Baleage, silage bales.. whichever you want to call them, they are fairly widely used in NZ for the convenience. Rather than being committed to keeping on feeding out once the pit is opened, with the bales you can just feed out for a day and wasteage is reasonably low. Makes for a lot of plastic to do something with however, these have 6 layers of wrap (12× at the ends)

 

[ovrszd]

Thanks for the education Pete!!!!

The issue with the plastic was going to be my next question.

I don't believe I've saw individual bales wrapped here. You see quite a few rows of bales wrapped together. Even then there's a lot of plastic. But the nutrient value of the product seems to be worth the hassle.

 

[olPete]

You're most welcome.
Yes, I used to work for a baling contractor, and most of our clients preferred the individual wrapped bales as they would place them out in their winter crop paddocks at planting time, and then cut the wrap off and move the electric fence. We mostly winter outdoors down here as our winters are reasonably mild. The only reason for so much wrap is to prevent punctures while transporting them, tube wrapped bales only need 2 or 3 layers to keep out the air. Without the double wrapping at the ends, maybe only used one-third the plastic. The big plus with individual is from the fact that it is better for capturing a surplus at the right time, rather than waiting for a large area to be ready for harvest. A lot of our clients would get us in 5+ times per year to bale up anything that got away on them, maintaining quality for the livestock. This is in contrast to the large area you would shut up for silage, which may actually reduce the intake for the stock.
We used McHale Fusion baler-wrappers as they were about the only proven comby at the time.. the boys came out from Ireland and simply could not believe where we were taking them, as steep as the farmer could mow with mower uphill and duals.. fun times indeed. Did about 60,000 per year per baler for 5 seasons.

A job stacking the other day, 420 bales and only ripped 3. Man loading the truck may have ripped 30 or so but some nice wide tape is fine if the plastic is dry.
I've been following TBN for ages but never said a peep, finally figured out how to attach photos so there may be a lot of 'education'
View attachment 495930

 

[ovrszd]

3 out of 420 ain't bad!!!!!

 

[olPete]

3 too many for Pete the Perfect. Just got in a rush and reversing before the bale cleared the gunnel on the truck deck. I'm a tough critic..
It only took a 5 hours to stack them, had 2 tractors loading 3 trucks at the other end and a one mile cart.

 

[ovrszd]

I hear ya. I'm my own worst critic too.

 

[olPete]

I hear ya. I'm my own worst critic too.

It keeps life exciting. Without wishing to derail the OP's thread, here's a few cows grazing kale a couple of winters back. You can see the benefits of individual bales put out in the summer in a system like this.. here I mowed tracks through the crop to put the fence out. Saves shorting out the electric fence and cows can see it.

 

[ovrszd]

Awesome picture. I totally understand that. Thanks for posting.

Sorry to the OP. But hey, we don't get pics from NZ very often!!!!

 

[olPete]

Awesome picture. I totally understand that. Thanks for posting.

Sorry to the OP. But hey, we don't get pics from NZ very often!!!!

That's half the reason I follow TBN. And most of of the other forums on my list. It's like travelling the world and amazing how people do things and what with.. all these little snippets of info come in handy one day.
Next project is to design and build a 3pt attachment that can scoop up and throw manure, straw, chop pumpkins into pieces and spit it into my feedout wagon, and I may try to incorporate a woodchipper chute in there somewhere. We have a small wintering barn here and I'd like to be able to build one machine to do all these things. Really just a scoop with a pto chopper/flail drum up front, that I can tilt with a hyd top link. Keep you posted!!

Along the lines of this but about 8' wide at the scoop end and much more enclosed towards the tractor so to keep the pumpkins in there til they break up. First year here but the idea is to add the pulp to silage to raise the energy value and make better use of the barn over summer. Hopefully the really sloppy stuff in the barn, can be scooped up and spread on the pasture to raise the fertility, and I can also put straw out before jamming the cattle back in.

 

[ovrszd]

Another attachment I've never saw!!!!

 

[olPete]

Another attachment I've never saw!!!!

Built by a company in Ireland. Looks really effective, they have a YouTube video of it in action. Google 'self loading manure spreader'.
I'm sure my old SAME will handle it, it has 4 pto speeds and 40 gear ratios. Very versatile and maneuverable tractor with split brakes front and rear.

 

[ovrszd]

Built by a company in Ireland. Looks really effective, they have a YouTube video of it in action. Google 'self loading manure spreader'.
I'm sure my old SAME will handle it, it has 4 pto speeds and 40 gear ratios. Very versatile and maneuverable tractor with split brakes front and rear.

In the Utility sized tractors Americans are way behind. I've not been to NZ but European countries and some Asian countries expect much more from their tractors than we do. One tractor does it all. First time I ever saw a tractor running 35 mph down the hiway was in Germany. Didn't catch what brand it was. Pulling a trailer full of potatoes.

 

[olPete]

In the Utility sized tractors Americans are way behind. I've not been to NZ but European countries and some Asian countries expect much more from their tractors than we do. One tractor does it all. First time I ever saw a tractor running 35 mph down the hiway was in Germany. Didn't catch what brand it was. Pulling a trailer full of potatoes.

Sounds to me like a big fendt. Yes you have hit the nail square on there I think. I do have an old JD 3140 here as a backup tractor but I can turn my tractor around inside its inside wheel mark. 4 wheel braking is awesome, I can turn off the front brakes but never bother to. Will lock a front wheel and slide the nose end around like a skidsteer! The only reason those SAME's became extinct was the fact that, being aircooled, they didn't warm up fast enough for Californian emission laws. Wonder how many there are in California... electric cab heater is great in wintertime. Lowest gear means 200 yards per hour and top means 25mph.
50° steering angle on a 4wd tractor with a FEL!

 

[Catman8]

Awesome picture. I totally understand that. Thanks for posting.

Sorry to the OP. But hey, we don't get pics from NZ very often!!!!

No complaints here, wow beautiful landscape and we can learn from everyone. Thanks olPete for sharing your knowledge.

 

[ovrszd]

No complaints here, wow beautiful landscape and we can learn from everyone. Thanks olPete for sharing your knowledge.

Did you notice someone stole Pete's trees???? Open landscape for sure!!!!